What if someone told you we should abandon all hope for global climate action until 2020? Well, that’s exactly the proposal that the United States and other countries are pushing at the UN Climate Talks taking place this week in Durban, South Africa. The 2020 delay might well be the worst idea ever.

Waiting nine years for climate action isn’t just a delay, it’s a death sentence for communities on the front lines of the climate crisis — and it could slam the door on ever getting carbon pollution levels below the safe upper limit of 350 parts per million.

It’s not too late to stop this delay from going through. Over the next couple of days, our team of

350.org activists in Durban will be working with our partners at Avaaz and allies from around the world to isolate climate action delayers like the USA, build support for the African nations that are fighting for real climate action, and push the European Union, Brazil and China to stand with Africa in their efforts.

The climate talks in South Africa end in just 48 hours, and it’s vital that we ramp up the pressure now. To make sure our message gets through, our team on the ground here in Durban will deliver your messages directly to the US negotiating team at a high-impact event we’re helping to pull together on Friday. We can’t say much more about it now, but we’ll be making sure that our message will be unavoidable.

If we raise an international alarm before the talks end on Friday, we can push the US out of the way of progress and help jumpstart the global process that can lead to bold climate action all around the world. Of course, the UN Climate Talks aren’t going to get us back to 350 by themselves, but they have the potential to create a legally binding, international framework to help nations make serious cuts in carbon emissions.

Regardless of what happens here in Durban, one thing is clear: we’ve all got lots of work to do in our home countries. In 2012, we’re going to need to do all we can to challenge the fossil fuel companies that are the real obstacles to climate progress. Breaking their
stranglehold on our governments is the only way to really unlock these negotiations.

The road ahead of us seems long and difficult, but as Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” The 350 network has pulled off the impossible before — now’s the time to step up the pressure again.

About

South African civil society is responding to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP 17, in Durban (28 Nov – 9 Dec).
This blog provides updates on civil society actions. The official SA civil society/COP17 blog is at www.c17.org.za.
Note: the official COP is closed to the general public. Events open to the general public are listed here.